


Not About Angels

by MidnightStorm6593



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: 5x18-AU, 5x22 Spoilers, AU, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-05
Updated: 2014-07-02
Packaged: 2018-02-03 12:51:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1745255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightStorm6593/pseuds/MidnightStorm6593
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She remembered once hearing in a gen ed science class or something about there being an infinite number of alternate realities. She had just never bought it until now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Blue and Yellow

_Should’ve done something,_

_But I’ve done it enough_

_By the way your hands are shaking,_

_I’d rather waste some time with you_

_\--_ _Blue and Yellow_ by the Used

* * *

 

It was the end of the world.

Well, of _this_ world—the other side—anyway.

The ground was shaking and the wind whipped around them as Bonnie and Damon stood side by side.

“This place is coming down, isn’t it?” Damon asked. 

Bonnie knew that he knew that answer to that question, but she responded anyway, “Yeah.”

She almost wanted to say something to reassure him, reassure herself, but she didn’t know what. Grams had promised her that she’d be okay and she trusted Grams, really she did, but things always had a tendency to go wrong when it came to her.

“I know, there’s a million other people we’d both rather be with right now,” Bonnie said. Her words are staggered and she’s blinking back tears. “But…” she trailed off, holding out a hand for him to grab. A part of her didn’t expect him to actually take it and, instead, scoff at her and tell her that she was being overdramatic.

Instead, he took her and intertwined their fingers in a firm grip.

“Just a few thousand,” he responded with his usual small smirk.

She attempted to smile back, but she wavered and before she even though about what she was saying, the words slipped out: “Do you think it’ll hurt?”

“I don’t kn—”

They’re engulfed in a blinding white light.


	2. Tidal

While we’re here, let’s see what happens

What we got, got, got to lose?

While we’re tidal and flexed on a full moon, it’d be such a shame not to 

\-- _Tidal_ by Imogen Heap

* * *

 

Bonnie woke up surrounded by white. She took a few minutes to blink the heaviness of sleep from her green eyes before fighting her way out of the soft bedding that she was surrounded in.

There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach and she couldn’t quite figure out why that was. Maybe she had a bad dream that she just couldn’t remember?

“Good, you’re up,” said a very naked Damon Salvatore as he emerged from the bathroom. “For a second I thought I tired you out so much that you’d sleep all day and miss our flight this afternoon.” He leaned over the bed to place a soft, deliberate kiss on her lips.

In a few short hours, they would be getting on a plane to head to Mystic Falls, Virginia, to meet Damon’s family, which consisted of his brother, Stefan, and Stefan’s new fiancé, Elena; Damon’s parents had passed away not too long ago.

“Something wrong?” He asked when he pulled away from her, sensing her tenseness.

“Uh…I don’t know,” she replied honestly with a shrug. “I just woke up with a bad feeling for some reason.” She paused a bit before letting out a scoff and shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I’m being weird right now. I guess I’m just nervous about meeting your family or something.”

“Don’t be,” Damon replied, kissing her lips again. “Stefan and Elena’ll love you.” He paused. “Well, if they don’t die from the shock of finding out that I’m actually in a steady relationship with a woman like you.”

“Mmm, you are lucky like that, aren’t you?” She replied with a sly smile.

Their relationship hadn’t had the most conventional start. Damon, a self-proclaimed playboy had attempted to pick her up as a one night stand at a bar when she had been hanging out with some girlfriends. She had then proceeded to tell him what a lame jackass he was, and that was what she thought would be the end of their brief interaction.

Yet, despite living in a large city like New York, they had somehow ended up in the same Starbucks one morning.

Damon had deemed it fate that they were both there and that she clearly should go out with him then.

She told him he was still unbelievably lame, but gave him her number anyway.

Now, nearly a year and half later they were in a steady relationship, shared an apartment, and she was going home with him for Christmas to meet his family.

“Well,” Bonnie said, leaning in close as if she was going to kiss Damon. “I better go shower so that I can finish my last minute packing.”

With that, she jumped up from the bed and ran towards the bathroom with a laugh.

“Great idea,” Damon replied. He caught her around the middle before lifting her up into his arms.

She laughed all the way to the bathroom.

* * *

“You do realize you don’t need that many shoes, right?” Damon asked sardonically as he watched Bonnie throw another pair into her already overstuffed suitcase. “In fact, I don’t think anyone on this planet needs that many shoes.”

Bonnie looked at him with a smile. “I’m a fashion editor, Damon; it’s an unspoken rule that I own this many shoes. 

“You’re never gonna get the suitcase closed,” he replied in his usual matter-of-fact manner.

“Watch me,” she retorted. She climbed on top of the suitcase, hoping that the added weight would force the suitcase shut. It didn’t.

Damon watched her struggle in amusement for a good five minutes before interjecting, “So do you want to make our flight today or…?”

She glared up at him before sighing and getting off the suitcase.

“Fine. You pick what gets left behind. I can’t choose between my babies.”

Rolling his eyes, he flipped the top of the suitcase open and began rearranging it and taking some things out. When he finally had the suitcase shut, he turned to look at Bonnie. She was sitting on their bed with a huge smile on her face.

“What?”

“I just realized that this is the first tripe we’ve taken together,” she replied.

“We’ve taken trips out of the city together before,” he said with a frown.

“Yeah, but those were little weekend trips where we didn’t leave the state. This is a _real_ trip. Plus, I’ve never been to Virginia before.”

“Don’t get too excited,” he said, coming to stand in front of her. “Mystic Falls is the boring place you’ll ever have the misfortune to enter. Not to mention, Stefan just proposed to his girlfriend, Elena, so we’ll have to deal with them being all sappy and crap.”

“Awwww,” Bonnie replied, standing up and giving Damon a peck on the lips. “Look who’s all nervous about introducing his girlfriend to his family.”

“I’m not nervous,” he replied defensively.

“Of course you’re not.” She stepped away from him and hefted her carry-on bag over her shoulder.

“I'm not.”

“Uh-huh.” She left the bedroom and headed towards the living room to reach the front door of their apartment. “Hey, I know you’re nervous and all,” she called out, “But seriously, we can’t miss this flight.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes and grabbed his own bags and her suitcase and followed her towards the door of their apartment.


	3. Uncertainty

_The bittersweetness of uncertainty: To win or lose_

_-_ Markus Zusak, _The Book Thief_  

* * *

 

 “Elena,” Caroline’s tired voice called out, “It’s three in the morning; what are you doing?” 

“Working,” Elena replied. “There has to be something.” She was on the floor of the Salvatore’s living room, surrounded by massive stacks of books. In the past three days, Elena had obsessively been looking for ways to bring Bonnie and Damon back. 

“Elena, we’ve been over this,” Caroline said with a sigh. “You need to take care of yourself.”

“How can I?” the doe-eyed brunette asked tearfully. “Damon’s dead and so is Bonnie and we have no idea what happened to them!”

“I know,” Caroline said, sitting down next to Elena, “But—”

“I’ve been thinking,” Elena interjected, “Maybe if we could find a witch, she could summon them here.”

“Summon them? Summon them from _where?_ There’s nowhere to summon them _from!_ And where would we even find a witch who would be willing to work with us?”

What Caroline didn’t tell Elena was that Stefan had already tried finding some witches who would maybe be willing to help them. As it turns out, word had gotten around and they had all but officially become pariahs in the supernatural world. 

No one wanted to help them because, more likely than not, they would end up dead.

“Bonnie and Damon have to be somewhere, Caroline! They just have to be! And at least I’ve been doing something! What have you been doing?” Elena snapped.

Caroline felt herself bristle. She had done her best to be understanding because she knew Elena was taking the loss exceptionally hard, but enough was enough; she didn’t deserve to be her verbal punching bag.

“You are not the only one who’s lost someone, Elena,” Caroline bit out, standing up. “I lost one of my best friends and so did Matt, Jeremy lost the girl he loves, and Stefan lost his _brother._ ”

“I know that!”

“Do you?” Caroline retorted. “Because you’ve kinda been walking around like your pain is the only pain that matters.”

 _And you’ve been doing that for years,_ were the words that Caroline didn’t dare speak aloud.

“Well, I’m sorry that I can’t be there to comfort everyone!” Elena threw a book that she had been holding in her hands off to the side and stood up, too.

“That’s not the point! That point is that you’re _not_ alone. We’re feeling this loss just as much as you and we want to help get them back, but running yourself down doesn’t do anyone any good!”

“But I have to do _something,”_ Elena tearfully insisted.

“ _We_ will, but _we_ are also going to take care of ourselves,” Caroline replied firmly.

Elena looked at the blonde and then at the books that surrounded her, clearly debating whether to put up a fight or not. Deep down, though, she knew that Caroline was right. With a sigh, she nodded.

“Okay,” Elena said. “Okay.”

Caroline gave a small smile and reached out a hand to give the brunette’s shoulder a comforting squeeze.

She watched Elena head up the stairs and she ran her fingers through her blonde curls with a sigh before going to pour herself a drink.

Every time she thought things couldn’t be messier in life, they somehow were.

She honestly didn’t miss Damon so much, but she’d give anything to see Bonnie again. Losing her was hard enough the first time, but losing her a second time and having no idea what really happened…

And things with Tyler were just so awkward. He was human now and there was so much left unspoken between them, but, despite the intense, relief-filled hug that they had shared,  after all that was actually said and done between them, she didn’t think he really cared to see her again and she wasn’t sure if she could blame him. But she didn’t particularly want to make the drive to the Lockwood mansion to find out for fear that she was right.

She was worried about Jeremy, too. He was still staying in the Lockwood mansion with Tyler and Matt against Elena’s wishes and Caroline hasn’t seen him at all since that fateful night. Matt, who came by regularly, though, assured Caroline and Elena that while things were obviously rough for Jeremy right now, he was dealing.

The only truly bright spot was that her mother was doing much better. They had managed to get to her in time and with a little vampire blood, she was as good as new and Caroline now was splitting her time between being at her own home and trying to help her mother with the fallout left by the Travelers and at the Salvatore boardinghouse to do what little she could there. 

“That sounded like it went well,” said Stefan a few minutes later when Caroline was sitting on the couch, nursing her drink.

“I’m going to assume that’s sarcasm because I’m too tired to decide any different,” Caroline replied dryly.

She watched Stefan pour himself a drink before looking at the bottom of her own glass before sighing.

“Look,” she began as Stefan sat down next to her on the couch, “I know we’re going to do _everything_ we can for Bonnie and Damon and I want Bonnie back more than everything and I know how much you want Damon back, but…” she paused and wetted her lips. “Like I told Elena, there’s nothing left to bring them back _from.”_

Stefan silently nodded, taking a large gulp from his drink.

“I feel horrible for even asking, but do you think it’s even possible to save them?”

Stefan was silent for what Caroline was sure was only a few minutes even if it felt like hours.

“Honestly?” We have done a lot of things that shouldn’t have been possible, so…I don’t know.”

Caroline nodded and she found herself curling into Stefan’s side, desperately seeking some comfort.


	4. Dreams and Nightmares

Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?

\--John Lennon

* * *

The flight from New York City to Richmond was just a little over an hour long (it certainly beat driving for six hours, though). From there, she and Damon had a rental car waiting for them to make the forty-something minute drive to Mystic Falls.

The first thing Bonnie noticed when they rolled into Mystic Falls was the giant clock tower in the middle of town. It seemed like a nice, scenic town; the stereotypical place where everyone knew everyone and people dreamed of raising their kids there.

It also seemed somewhat familiar, though. As if she had been here before, except she knows for a fact that she never has because she’s never even been to Virginia before…it probably just reminded her of some other town she’d been to.

The house they eventually pulled up to was decent-sized and beautiful in an old-fashioned way.

“You know,” Damon said as he put the car in park, “We just peel out of here now and—”

She cut him off by leaning over and pressing her lips to his.

“Not a chance,” she said when she broke away from him and opened the car door.

Bonnie wasn’t sure what to expect when Stefan and Elena opened the door, but they appeared to be completely normal.

_Okay, that’s weird,_ Bonnie thought, _Why wouldn’t they be normal? Just what the hell were you expecting?_

“Hi, you must be Bonnie,” said the pretty brunette.

“And you must be Elena,” Bonnie replied, holding out her hand. When Elena made contact with her, Bonnie got the strangest feeling; almost like de ja vu, but not quite.

“Is everything okay?” Elena asked.

“Yeah, sorry,” Bonnie said quickly. “It’s just that you seem really familiar.”

“Well, unless you’ve been to this area before, then we definitely haven’t met,” Elena replied. “I guess I just have one of those faces.”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be weird. This is _so_ not a good first impression,” Bonnie said with a nervous laugh.

“Oh, trust me,” Stefan chimed in. “You’re making a better impression than any of Damon’s girlfriends I’ve met before.” He smiled warmly and held his hand out and Bonnie took it. His grip was warm and firm and Bonnie got the same strange feeling of de ja vu she had felt when she shook Elena’s hand.

“I can always count on you to give me and upstanding review, little brother,” Damon said sarcastically.

“Just keeping it real, Damon,” Stefan replied with a grin. He and Damon embraced each other, heartily slapping each other’s backs.

Elena smiled at the two men and rolled her eyes a little bit.

“Hey, so why don’t we get you two settle in your room?” Elena asked. “I hope you don’t mind, but I also invited my family to dinner. It’ll be just my parents and my aunt, though. My younger brother is spending time with his girlfriend and won’t be back in Mystic Falls till right on Christmas Eve.”

“Sounds good,” Bonnie replied. It would probably be a good idea to get to know them and get all the introductions and small talk out of the way so that Christmas would be more comfortable.

The guest room that they led Bonnie and Damon to was nice. It wasn’t overly large, but it was homey and filled with bursts of color.

“Sorry about those two idiots,” Damon said when Stefan and Elena had left them to get settled in.

“Why? They seem perfectly nice.”

“That’s because you haven’t spent enough time with them.”

Bonnie snorted.

“You know,” Damon said, hooking his fingers into the belt loops of her jeans and pulling her to him, “They probably won’t be bothering us for a while, which means…” He leaned down to give her a deep kiss.

After a few moments, she broke away laughing. “We’ve been in your brother’s house for like fifteen minutes and you already want to have sex?”

“Can you blame me?” He asked with a wicked smirk. “I mean,” his hand slid under her shirt, lightly caressing the skin, “Just look at yourself.” He kissed her again.

“Mmm, nice try,” Bonnie replied, pulling away from him again. “But you know that flattery gets you nowhere with me.”

* * *

 

When she met Elena’s parents and aunt later that evening, Bonnie was struck by the same sense of familiarity as when she had met Stefan and Elena.

Bonnie greeted them all with a smile and a handshake. When Mr. Gilbert shakes her hand, for some reason, she vaguely remembers him referring to her as an unofficial member of the Gilbert family, which made no sense. Because that’s never happened. Because she’s never met the Gilberts before.

She was really losing it.

After the stereotypical introductions were made, they all sat down.

“I made my famous chicken parmesan,” Stefan announced.

“Stefan always cooks because Elena’s like you; she can’t cook to save her life,” Damon whispered to Bonnie.

“Don’t be a jackass,” Bonnie whispered back, “Especially because if it wasn’t for your amazing cooking, I would have left you a long, long time ago.” She smiled mischievously at him.

“So, Bonnie, where are you from?” Mrs. Gilbert asked in an effort to make small talk.

“Salem,” Bonnie replied.

“Salem? As in witch trials?” Jenna asked.

“Yeah,” Bonnie replied with a little laugh. “My mom grew up there, went to college in Boston and met my dad there and they ended up staying in Salem even after they were married. They ended up getting a divorce when I was ten, but they managed to stay civil with each other. They’re actually next door neighbors if you can actually believe it.” She paused. “They weren’t exactly thrilled about me missing Christmas with them this year, but I promised them that I’d visit soon.”

“Hey, I heard you were a fashion editor for a magazine,” Elena said. “That must be fun.”

“Oh, I absolutely love it!” Bonnie replied enthusiastically. “It’s just for a small, not so well-known magazine, but it’s a start.”

“What I’m really curious about,” Jenna said with a grin, waving around her fork, “Is how you met Damon and actually ended up in a relationship with him.”

Damon grimaced and Bonnie almost laughed again.

“Yeah, how about we stop interrogating my girlfriend?” Damon asked.

“I don’t mind,” Bonnie said. “It’s really not that great of a story. It’s actually a little cliché. He tried picking me up in a bar one night, but I thought he was totally lame and I even told him so. But, uh, like right out of some stupid romance movie, we happened to be at the same Starbuck in the morning, getting coffee. And then against my better judgment, I gave him my phone number…and here we are now.”

“Yeah, that is totally cliché,” Jenna said with a smile.

Bonnie smiled back at her. She knew Jenna didn’t meant to be insulting; she was sarcastic and blunt, but she seemed nice. She wasn’t a big fan of Damon’s, though, and Bonnie wondered if there was some sort of history there.

She decided it didn’t matter, though. She knew that Damon didn’t have the most stellar past when it came to women, but he admitted his faults. This was the here and now.

The rest of the evening passed by pleasantly and they all got to know each other better. She learned that Jenna was currently working on her Master’s in psychology, Mrs. Gilbert was a writer, Elena was following in her mother’s footsteps, Mr. Gilbert was a doctor, and Stefan had just finished up med school and was about to start his residency at the local hospital (courtesy of Mr. Gilbert).

Bonnie found herself truly enjoying it and any lingering nervousness fading away. She could tell for all of Damon’s nonchalant act, he was also enjoying himself also.

* * *

 

_She was standing in the middle of some woods, feeling confused and disoriented with the acrid smell of a freshly put out fire burning her nostrils._

_The disorientation was soon replaced by searing pain, though. Something, or_ someone _was attacking her, ripping her throat open._

_Everything went black for moment and the she suddenly saw Stefan and Elena’s worried faces hovering over. There was no more pain, but there was the metallic taste of blood in her mouth._

_“Bonnie!” Elena cried out, immediately collecting Bonnie into her arms._

_She touched her neck and felt blood there, but there was no wound left from the attack. She looked past Stefan and Elena and saw Damon. The expression on his face was a mixture of anger and devastation and she could see blood—_ her _blood—smeared around his mouth._

Bonnie shot up in the bed. She was clutching her neck and she could feel the chill of sweat cooling on her body.

She took a few deep breaths and ran a hand through her messy hair. Then, she looked over at Damon who was laying on his stomach, sleeping peacefully.

She turned away from him, getting lost in her thoughts.

Things had seemed off when she had first woken up back in their apartment this morning, but they had now escalated into downright weird. Ever since they reached Mystic Falls, it had been a near never-ending feeling of de ja vu that she had tried to ignore…and now she was having the most bizarre nightmares.

Just what was happening?


End file.
